Akbar Ahmed

Akbar Ahmed "is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University. He is considered "the world's leading authority on contemporary Islam," according to BBC. He is former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain, and has advised Prince Charles and met with President George W. Bush on Islam. His numerous books, films and documentaries have won prestigious awards and his books have been translated into several languages including Chinese and Indonesian.

"Ahmed is regularly interviewed on CNN, CBC, the BBC, ARY TV and has appeared several times on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Night Line. In February 2005, the National Cathedral held a special Evensong Service to honor him. He spoke at the Chairmans Distinguished Speakers Lecture Series at the Pentagon and gave the inaugural lecture for the first Chair in Jewish-Muslim Studies at the University of Illinois-Chicago. He presented and narrated "The Glories of Islamic Art", the three-part television series for Channel 5, UK, broadcast in 2006 and he has recorded 12 lectures for an audio CD series, "Encountering Islam", for NowYouKnow Media, Washington DC. He is Senior Advisor to an innovative on-line project for an Islamic syllabus for Jones Knowledge Inc.

"Ahmed's most recent book book, Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization, is published by the Brookings Institution Press. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution in addition to his tenure appointment at American University. He was nominated as the "Most Inspiring Person of the Year 2005" and a finalist in the poll conducted by BeliefNet."


 * Trustee, World Faiths Development Dialogue
 * Advisor, Americans for Informed Democracy
 * Contributor, Review of Faith and International Affairs
 * Multi-Faith Advisory Board, Council on Faith and International Affairs
 * Experts Panel, Institute for Global Engagement

Website: http://www.akbarahmed.org/